Snowboard binding

ABSTRACT

A snowboard binding including a retaining member which can be secured to a flat portion of a snowboard in order to hold locked on the flat portion a cradle which accommodates a snowboard boot, and screws which secure the retaining member to the flat portion and which can be loosened in order to permit the orientation of the cradle relative to the flat portion. The screws have respective control keys which are accessible on the retaining member in order to loosen and tighten them and the binding includes loss-preventing holding devices for the screws on the retaining member in order to keep the screws attached to the retaining member regardless of whether or not they are engaged in the flat portion.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a snowboard binding of the type including thefeatures mentioned in the preamble of the main claim.

BACKGROUND ART

Bindings that include those features are known, for example, from U.S.Pat. No. 5,816,603, or from the applicant's current production.

These known bindings comprise a discoidal retaining element which isprovided with slotted holes and which is accommodated in a partiallyembedded manner in a discoidal opening formed in a cradle which is inturn to accommodate the snowboard boot. The boot is then secured in thecradle by means of bands and straps. A typical requirement ofsnowboarders is to be able to vary both the orientation and the relativeposition of the cradle on the flat portion of the board. In order to dothis, the screws that hold the retaining element of the cradle areloosened and the cradle is moved by rotating it relative to the board orby engaging the screws in holes which are in a different position on theflat portion. At this stage, it is particularly easy to lose one or moreof the cradle securing screws with the risk of irretrievablyjeopardising the day's sport unless spare screws are available. Inaddition, the handling of the screws is impeded by the winter clothingnormally worn for snowboarding, in particular by the gloves, which makesthe adjusting operation even more complicated.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The technical problem underlying the present invention is to provide abinding in the case of which the operations for adjusting the bindingrelative to the board are particularly easy, even under difficultconditions and with clothing which is the source of possibleobstruction.

Within the scope of this task, an object of the invention is toeliminate the risk of losing the screws and the consequent necessity tohave spare screws available.

Another object of the invention Is to use for those purposesarrangements and equipment already provided on snowboards.

This technical problem is solved and these objects are achieved with asnowboard binding produced in accordance with the claims, which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features and the advantages of the Invention will emerge moreclearly from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereofwhich is illustrated by way of non-limiting example with reference tothe appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial diagrammatic view of a snowboard with an associatedbinding;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of adetail of the binding of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top view of a detail of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectioned view taken on the line IV-IV of FIG. 3;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are bottom views of two possible embodiments of the detailof FIG. 3.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

In FIG. 1, T indicates a snowboard provided with a pair of bindings 1(only one of which is shown) for boots of the so-called “soft”type. Eachbinding 1 comprises a cradle 2 whose central portion has an opening 3suitable for accommodating a discoidal retaining member 4 by means ofwhich the cradle is held and locked, but with the option of adjustableangular positioning as desired In the manner described hereinafter, onthe flat portion 5 of the snowboard T. In its turn, the retaining memberis held on the flat portion 5 by means of screws 7 which are engaged incorresponding holes 8 in the snowboard, with the option of a firstadjustment stemming from the longitudinal movement of the entirebinding, which is achieved by disengaging the screws 7 from the holes 8In order to engage them in different holes 8, and with the option of asecond adjustment which is achieved by loosening the screws 7 in orderto cause the retaining member to slide transversely to the longitudinalaxis of the board owing to the provision of slotted through-holes 10 inthe retaining member, through which holes the screws 7 extend. Thebinding is subject to a third possible adjustment for angularorientation with respect to the board T by rotating the cradle 2relative to the retaining member. All three of these adjustments areconventional and can be combined with one another as desired. Common toall of the adjustments is also the fact that, in order to effect any ofthem, it is necessary at least to loosen the screws 7 if not actually todisengage them from the holes 8.

The screws 7 are provided with a threaded cylindrical shank 11 having awidened head 12 at one end and a control key 13 (typically a transversenotch or a cross notch) In the head 12. A washer 14 complementing thehead 12 is preferably interposed between the head 12 and the slottedholes 10 in the retaining member 4. The screws 7 are engaged in such amanner that they pass with the shank 11 but not with the heads 12(and/or the washers 14) through the slotted holes 10 in order to holdand lock the retaining member on the flat portion once the screws havebeen tightened.

According to the invention, the retaining member 4 is provided withloss-preventing holding means for the screws 7 In order to keep thelatter attached to the retaining member regardless of whether or notthey are engaged in the holes 8 in the flat portion. The loss-preventingholding means comprise a discoidal plate-like element 15 superposed onthe retaining member 4 and held thereon by means of an adhesiveinterface 16 applied to the lower, connecting surface. The plate-likeelement 15 has means for access to the control keys 13 of the screws 7in order to permit access to the control key without having to removethe loss-preventing means.

The access means are constituted by slotted openings 18 in theplate-like element which have dimensions such as to permit access to thecontrol keys of the screws but not such as to enable the heads 12 topass through, with the result that the heads are sandwiched between theretaining member and the holding means.

The plate-like element is formed from a resilient plastics material,such as thermoformed EVA, and is shaped, at the surface remote from theretaining member, with circumferential projections and beads 19 as asnow-scraping device for snowboard boots. Thus, it is not necessary toprovide the board with a separate snow-scraping member or, in otherwords, the snow-scraping member assumes this double functionality.Finally, it should be mentioned that the adhesive interface is limitedto the regions of the plate-like element that are not subject to thesuperposition of the washers 14, or non-adhesive windows 20 are providedin the adhesive interface. These windows may be limited to theadjustment region of the heads 12 and washers 14, as indicated in FIG.5, or they may extend as an elongation of one another, as indicated inFIG. 6.

1. A snowboard binding comprising a retaining member which can besecured to a flat portion of a snowboard in order to hold locked on theflat portion a cradle which accommodates a snowboard boot, and screwswhich secure the retaining member to the flat portion and which can beloosened in order to permit the orientation of the cradle relative tothe flat portion, the screws having respective control keys which areaccessible on the retaining member in order to loosen and tighten thescrews, characterized in that it comprises loss-preventing holding meansfor the screws on the retaining member in order to keep the screwsattached to the retaining member regardless of whether or not they areengaged in the flat portion.
 2. A binding according to claim 1, theloss-preventing holding means having means for access to the controlkeys of the screws in order to permit access to the control key of thescrews without removing the loss-preventing means.
 3. A bindingaccording to claim 2, wherein the screws have heads widened with respectto a shank and are engaged in such a manner that they pass with theshank but not with the heads through respective openings in theretaining member in order to hold and lock the retaining member on theflat portion, the loss-preventing holding means including a plate-likeelement superposed on the retaining member and held thereon, the meansfor access to the control keys of the screws including openings in theplate-like element which are suitable for permitting access to thecontrol keys of the screws but not for enabling the heads to passthrough, with the result that the heads are sandwiched between theretaining member and the loss-preventing holding means.
 4. A bindingaccording to claim 3, wherein both the retaining member and theplate-like element are discoidal.
 5. A binding according to claim 3,wherein the plate-like element is shaped, on the surface remote from theretaining member, as a snow-scraping device for snowboard boots.
 6. Abinding according to claim 3, wherein the retaining member and theplate-like element are attached to one another with adhesive connection.7. A binding according to claim 3, wherein the plate-like element isformed from a resilient plastics material.
 8. A binding according toclaim 7, wherein the plastics material is thermoformed EVA.
 9. A bindingaccording to claim 3, wherein the openings in the retaining member andin the plate-like element are slot-shaped.
 10. A binding according tothe claim 1, wherein the loss-preventing holding means is a plate-likeelement which is provided with securing means for securing it, with atleast partial superposition, to the retaining member of the snowboardbinding and which is provided with openings for access to the controlkeys of the securing screws of the retaining member.
 11. A bindingaccording to claim 10, wherein the securing means comprise an adhesivefilm.
 12. A binding according to claim 10, wherein the plate-likeelement is shaped, on the surface remote from the retaining member, as asnow-scraping device for snowboard boots.
 13. A binding according toclaim 4, wherein the plate-like element is shaped on the surface remotefrom the retaining member, as a snow-scraping device for snowboardboots.
 14. A binding according to claim 4, wherein the retaining memberand the plate-like element are attached to one another with adhesiveconnection.
 15. A binding according to claim 5, wherein the retainingmember and the plate-like element are attached to one another withadhesive connection.
 16. A binding according to claim 4, wherein theplate-like element is formed from a resilient plastics material.
 17. Abinding according to claim 5, wherein the plate-like element is formedfrom a resilient plastics material.
 18. A binding according to claim 6,wherein the plate-like element is formed from a resilient plasticsmaterial.
 19. A binding according to claim 4, wherein the openings inthe retaining member and in the plate-like element are slot-shaped. 20.A binding according to claim 5, wherein the openings in the retainingmember and in the plate-like element are slot-shaped.
 21. A bindingaccording to claim 6, wherein the openings in the retaining member andin the plate-like element are slot-shaped.
 22. A binding according toclaim 7, wherein the openings in the retaining member and in theplate-like element are slot-shaped.
 23. A binding according to claim 8,wherein the openings in the retaining member and in the plate-likeelement are slot-shaped.
 24. A binding according to claim 11 wherein theplate-like element is shaped, on the surface remote from the retainingmember, as a snow-scraping device for snowboard boots.
 25. Aloss-preventing holding device for a snowboard binding having aretaining member which can be secured to a flat portion of a snowboardin order to hold locked on the flat portion a cradle which accommodatesa snowboard boot, and screws which secure the retaining member to theflat portion and which can be loosened in order to permit theorientation of the cradle relative to the flat portion, the screwshaving respective control keys which are accessible on the retainingmember in order to loosen and tighten the screws, the loss-preventingholding device comprising means for keeping the screws on the retainingmember attached to the retaining member regardless of whether or notthey are engaged in the flat portion.
 26. The loss-preventing holdingdevice according to claim 25, wherein the loss-preventing holding deviceis a plate-like element which is provided with securing means forsecuring it, with at least partial superposition, to the retaining meansof the snowboard binding and which is provided with openings for accessto the control keys of the securing screws of the retaining member. 27.The loss-preventing holding device according to claim 26, wherein thesecuring means includes an adhesive film.
 28. The loss-preventingholding device according to claim 26, wherein the plate-like element isshaped, on the surface remote from the retaining member, as asnow-scraping device for snowboard boots.